Nihongo

Today we spent a good many hours studying for our Nihongo (Japanese) midterm on Monday. A couple weeks ago, I made the mistake of articulating out loud that I was really getting the hang of the language, and that it was starting to click.  Then something tragically unclicked, as I seemed to have reached saturation point.  I had to beg Miyagi Sensai to please stop repeatedly calling on me as I had no idea how to answer her socratic badgering, and the jeers from my 19 year old class mates did not help.

Mostly we are learning the types of things you would need to use in every day conversation... "John walked from home to work yesterday"  =  "Johnsan wa kinoo uchi kara kaisha made arukimashita."  But occasionally, there's the odd phrasing that has somehow slipped on to my vocab list... "Omikoshi o katsugite, kudasai"  which translates to "Will you please carry my portable shine?"  This makes me recall the portable training potty I used to use as a two year old, but I don't think this is what it means. Now you can understand why I'm at mental capacity.

After one too many flash cards this evening, we decided to take a stroll around the block... the seawall is lovely this time of night. And the locals are quite handsome....

You'd think we were in Mexico.....
Little buddy must have gotten baked in the sun.

John's mom and Maurice gave me a sewing machine for Christmas two years ago, and unfortunately, I hadn't gotten to use it much until recently. I'm teaching myself to sew which means no patterns and a lot of improv. I made some pretty curtains and two dresses so far. Project Runway here I come. You think I'm joking.

Our friend Clayton, the one who went to Korea with us, left on Wednesday (for good!)   I drove him and Homer, his dog, to the airport. It's sad, since he was one of our better friends here.  I guess this is how it goes in this lifestyle...but in a way, it's really amazing, because there are people that you meet, become great friends with, and then they go, and you always have a friend that lives in ... Qatar, in Clay's case.  Ok so I'll wait till he gets back to the states to visit.  Booster, who has graced the pages of this blog several times (so photogenic) has left us for Saudi Arabia, although he will be back in about 6 mos. 

I'll try to keep up on the blog more these days.  And more photos of Gunner for Captain Ron!

  Dewa Mata! (until Tomorrow!)